Broken Mirror
by Dakir
Summary: Weiss leaves Beacon Academy on a mission of revenge and Ruby must try to stop her.
1. Red Snow

Finally, Ruby found her. "Weiss!" She called into the frigid winter air. The other girl ignored her, and continued to walk through the snow, away from Beacon, away from home. "WEISS!" Ruby called again, this time with force. Weiss stopped, but did not face her.

"Ruby," she replied, almost too soft for Ruby to hear. "Why did you come for me?"

"Because I can't let you do this! You're leaving everything behind, and for what?!" Ruby yelled back across the snowy field. "Stop being such a big dumb idiot and come back to Beacon!"

Now Weiss turned, her ice blue eyes meeting Ruby's. Ruby was shocked. She did not see her friend and teammate anymore, she saw a girl who was full of malice. "You don't know anything Ruby!" She snapped back, "If you did, you would leave me be!" As she continued, Ruby saw her slowly unsheathe Myrtenaster from its resting place at her hip. "You know nothing about the pain I've been through, and of what I have to do to for vengence. I won't let anyone stop me, Ruby, not even you." Weiss was now fully prepared for a fight, as she knew Ruby would not let her go quietly.

Ruby, seeing the drastic change in her former partner's demeanour, grabbed a hold of Crescent Rose and brought it to its full extension in front of her. "If you won't come back, Weiss, I'm gonna have to drag you back to Beacon! I won't let you leave!"

"Enough talk Ruby!" Weiss shouted, "The time for words is up, now we speak only with our weapons!" And with that, Weiss launched herself at Ruby.

Ruby barely had time to swing her scythe into position to block the strike. The two exchanged a few blows before Weiss created a Dust circle beneath herself and vaulted skyward. Ruby followed by positioning her weapon under herself and firing off some shots. As Ruby ascended, Weiss suddenly changed her direction and shot down towards her. Ruby swung her scythe up to meet the brutal assault and their blades locked against each other. Ruby looked up to see those blue eyes staring daggers at her, promising defeat. Weiss saw only raw determination in Ruby's, and as they fell, they exchanged more blows.

Ruby saw the ground swiftly coming up to meet her and she fired a shot towards Weiss, who blocked it with Dust. Ruby, however, was only looking to create some distance between them, and now landed about ten feet from Weiss. Ruby swung her scythe back around, expecting another assault, but the next attack was of a different kind.

Weiss began viciously throwing Dust attacks against Ruby, who was hard pressed to dodge them. Ruby spotted a flake coming straight at her knee. She dug her scythe into the ground and jumped on top of it to avoid the blow. She didn't, however, see the flake that was aimed higher. It felt as if a giant had punched her square in the gut. Retaining a hold of Crescent Rose, she flew backward and landed in the snow. She tried valiantly to get up and fight, but her body would not respond quickly enough. She was getting to her knees when she caught sight of the ice flying at her.

Ruby dove to the side, trying desperately to avoid the attack. However, the ice caught her in the ankle and held her fast as she slumped to the ground. She quickly recovered her weapon and shot the ice on her foot away from the larger mass of ice. She was now effectively hobbled.

Ruby, though, was, by any means, going to accept defeat. She brought her scythe under her and launched into the air towards Weiss. She spun around and delivered a devastating blow against Weiss, who staggered under the weight.

Ruby pressed her advantage, delivering several more swings which Weiss was forced to block. As Ruby went to strike again, her iced over foot slipped from under her and she was unable to stop herself from falling to the ground.

Weiss now knew she had won. She kicked Crescent Rose away from Ruby and into the snow. She then brought Myrtenaster to the ready and lunged, piercing Ruby's side. She saw Ruby's eyes turn to horror as her life's blood spilled out onto the snow.

She slid the blade out from its sheathe of flesh and placed it back on her hip. "I tried to warn you Ruby, but you wouldn't listen." She said blankly. "I-I'm sorry it had to come to this." A single tear slid down her cheek and onto the snow, now stained red with blood.

Ruby looked back up at Weiss and now saw the regret of a lifetime in her eyes. She tried to sit herself back up, but the pain of the effort had spots dancing across her vision. She fell back down, face first, into the snow. She brought her head up in time to see a different pair of heels walking across the snow. These heels were black and accompanied by a pair of anklets with small black crystals on them.

This newcomer now stood beside Weiss, putting her arm around the distressed girl's shoulder. "There, Weiss, you did what had to be done." A woman's voice said, "Now come, we will begin your training when you are ready."

Weiss glanced down at Ruby, her only true friend, and said, "What about Ruby?"

The woman said, "Who? This girl?" Gesturing to the wounded girl. "Leave her, there is nothing more that can be done." With that, the woman began walking back the way she came, assuming that Weiss would follow.

Weiss gave Ruby one final look. She whispered, "I'm sorry, Ruby" Then backed away, turning to follow the woman in the black heels.

Ruby, darkness finally coming over her, whispered, "W-Weiss, I will b-bring you back. I-I… promise."


	2. Road to Recovery

Months. It had been months since Ruby had tried to stop Weiss from leaving Beacon. Months since she had failed. After a long and arduous recovery, Ruby was finally back on her feet. She returned to her now empty dorm room and sat down on her bed. She gave her hands a good look. It was simply a miracle that she was alive, the doctors had said. Yang and Blake had arrived a few minutes after her fight with Weiss, and had somehow gotten her back before she bled to death on that snowy field.

She thought about Weiss' words that day. What did she mean when she talked about revenge? What happened to her in the past? Why now? Her head was filled to the brim with questions that couldn't be answered. It wasn't long before she lay down her head and fell into a restless sleep.

Blake could hear her from a mile away. Before the inevitable, she put her book away and sat up in her bed. Yang whipped the door open and stormed into their room. She slammed it shut with enough force to put a crack right down the middle. "Ugh!" She exclaimed as she sat down heavily in her chair. "Still no sign of her anywhere!"

Blake decided against bringing up the door. Instead, she said, "We'll find her, don't worry."

"I'm not worried!" Yang snapped. "But my little sister almost died trying to stop her! and now we have no idea where she went, or even why she left! It's just so...so…"

"Aggravating?" Blake offered.

"Yes!" Yang replied.

Blake chose her next words carefully, "We are going to find her, Yang, but we have to be patient. there's no point in wasting our energy when we are going to need it to bring Weiss back."

Yang looked at her for a moment with an angry look in her eyes, but then conceded defeat, "I suppose you're right. I guess I'm still just scared about the fact that the only thing that saved Ruby's life was that note she left us."

Blake nodded. They had come back from their classes to find a hastily written note by Ruby on their door. It read, "Weiss ran away. Going to get her. Towards the altar." Yang knew about the altar that Ruby was speaking of, it was the altar that they had visited many times when they were younger. It was that fact alone that had allowed them to find Ruby in time, and Blake had not forgotten that.

"How about we go check on Ruby?" Blake asked the blonde-haired girl. "I believe she got out of the infirmary yesterday." _The road to recovery is a long one_. She thought to herself.

Yang nodded and stood up. "Sounds like a plan." Blake stood, leaving a note on the door that it needed to be replaced, and they walked to Ruby's room.

When they arrived, Yang tapped softly on the door and opened it. "Ruby?" She asked quietly. She walked in to see Ruby lying on her bed, not asleep anymore but clearly not wanting to move.

Ruby rolled her head to face the door. "Hey guys." She replied as Blake followed Yang into the room.

"How're you doing?" Yang asked, taking a seat on the bed next to Ruby. Blake contented herself with standing.

"Fine." Ruby replied. _Could've seen that coming_. Yang chided herself.

"Hey," Yang said, "Don't be so down, alright? We are going to find her, and when we do we're gonna bring her back. You hear me?"

"I do." Ruby answered, "But we wouldn't have to find her if I'd been strong enough to stop her."

"Don't say that, Ruby." Blake chimed in. "You did everything you could, and next time we're going to do it together. Until we do, we're all going to train as hard as we can to prepare."

"You better believe it." Yang added. "We'll be right alongside you next time. And Weiss will have no choice but to come back."

"You think so?" Ruby asked.

"I know so, Ruby, team RWBY won't be split up so easily." Yang replied. She put on a smile for her little sister. "Now come on and get out of bed. Let's go get you something to eat. I bet they gave you nothing but mush in that hospital." 

That, at least, brought a little smirk out of the smaller girl. "You don't know the half of it."

They all made their way down to the cafeteria together, and quickly got their food. As they went to find a table, however, the girls could feel the eyes of everyone in the room turning to glance at them. News spread quickly around Beacon, and quite some time had passed since Weiss left. This was also the first anyone had seen of Ruby since her battle with Weiss. By the time they had sat down, Ruby had lost her appetite again.

She didn't do much but pick at her food for a bit, but did manage to get some down. As she rolled her peas around her plate, she heard a familiar voice. "Hey Ruby." She looked up to see the goofy smile of Jaune Arc looking down at her. "Is this seat taken?" Motioning to the seat next to her.

Ruby smiled at Jaune's attempt to sound suave and shook her head.

Jaune took a seat and then said, "Haven't seen you in a while. How're you doing?" His usual cheerfulness was somewhat subdued, but he seemed to be making an effort.

"I'm fine." Ruby answered. She then proceeded to continue the rolling of her peas.

"Ruby," Jaune said, "I know this kind of thing can't be easy, and you know I'm not really great with words, but I do know that Team JNPR will help you no matter what. Know that we've got your back. You aren't alone in wanting to bring Weiss back."

"Thanks Jaune," Ruby answered, "But I screwed up. I don't want my friends to get hurt as a result of my mistakes."

"Don't even try, Ruby." He replied. "I wasn't asking your permission. I'm telling you that we are going to help you get Weiss back, no matter what it takes." Jaune smiled, "Besides, we can't let you guys have all the fun. There are bound to be some nasty monsters in our way."

For the first time in a while, Ruby felt something stir within her. Hope. She broke into a pretty wide grin. "Thanks Jaune." She then addressed the entire table. "I couldn't ask for better friends." Ruby's grin was infectious, and soon her teammates were smiling as well.

_Like I said Weiss. _Ruby thought. _I will bring you back._


	3. Attack on Vale

Weiss sat down on her cot, exhausted after spending the entire day training with her new teacher. It had been almost a year since she left Beacon behind, and she knew she had gotten much stronger due to her training.

She closed her eyes and thought about the people she left behind. She was still horribly conflicted about what she did to Ruby. She thought that Ruby was dead, slain in that snowy field for trying to bring her back to that horrid school.

Suddenly, she heard familiar footsteps. "Weiss," said the woman's voice. Weiss' eyes snapped open to see a pair of blazing yellow eyes looking at her. "We are going to begin our operation tomorrow." Her teacher said. "Prepare yourself. I will wake you early." She watched as her teacher walked away towards the opening in the cave.

After her fight with Ruby, Weiss was brought to a cave in the side of an obscure cliff face. Here she had made her home for the past few months. Here it was that she trained, slept, and dreamt about revenge. Her mentor was making her play a part in some convoluted scheme of hers, so she was playing along for the time being.

Weiss watched her teacher's back as she left the cave, wondering a little about what tomorrow would bring, but she was too tired to worry about it. She finally put her head down and closed her eyes, bringing on dreams of fighting and bloodshed. She did not know that, at that very moment, a girl some distance away was dreaming about bringing her back to Beacon.

Weiss awoke the next morning with the usual chill in her bones, but this time she was shaken awake by her teacher. "It is time." She heard after rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She got up and followed the older woman out of the cave and into the pre-dawn light.

Her chilliness was soon gone as they hiked down the cliffside and moved northward, towards Vale. Weiss now was curious, "What exactly are we doing?" She inquired.

Her teacher replied, "Everything is in order for my boss' plan to happen. We are the first step in that plan. We are going to launch an attack on southern Vale to draw the police forces south, allowing for a raid on the commercial district. That is all you need to know."

Weiss looked away from her teacher and back towards the ground in front of her, contenting herself with walking for now. They soon reached a cliff overlooking the city. Weiss couldn't help but look over to the east, where Beacon lay dormant. She quickly looked back towards the city as her mentor said, "Our target is that building there." She pointed towards a large warehouse. "It contains many of the goods that Vale then exports overseas." Weiss nodded as she found the building the older woman was talking about. "Let's go." Her teacher said as she leapt off the cliff.

Weiss quickly followed, using her abilities to air step towards the warehouse. She was careful to conserve her Dust, as she did not know how much she would need. She saw her mentor doing the same and soon they both arrived, having gone right over the guards. They landed stealthily on the roof of the warehouse. With a whispered word, they sliced a hole in the roof and jumped inside. She followed the older woman over to a large shipping container, which was promptly cut open. Inside were several large crates. Her teacher then whispered, "This container is filled with Dust, we are going to detonate it." She pulled out a small timekeeper from her blood-red dress and then said, "Find cover."

Weiss quickly found a similar sized container and got behind it, erecting a Dust barrier around herself as extra protection. She heard a huge blast, which forced the container she was behind to slam into her. Her barrier reduced the impact, but she was still thrown to the ground.

She noticed, as she got up, that the light of the early morning was now filtering in through a large hole in the roof. She heard shouting outside and prepared for a fight, taking hold of Myrtenaster from her waist. Men burst in through a door behind her, pistols in hand.

Weiss brought Myrtenaster in front of her and charged at the first man, skewering him on her weapon. She then air stepped and launched herself towards the roof. She saw a second man follow the first and aim his pistol up at her. She barely had time to create a barrier before the rounds started pinging off of it. She shot herself towards the middle of the warehouse as more guards came in through the door.

Landing on top of a container that was half destroyed from the blast, she fired multiple Dust flakes at the men, smashing them into the wall. Two were knocked unconscious from the impact, yet one tried still to get up. Weiss quickly ended his resistance by freezing him into solid ice.

She looked over to see her teacher finishing off the guards that came at her. She did this ruthlessly yet efficiently, using little Dust to great effect. As soon as she was done, she called to Weiss, "Follow me!" She then darted out the door with Weiss hard on her heels.

They burst into the street to see people running away from the scene of the explosion. They heard sirens in the distance, but getting closer. The sirens, however, never reached them. They stopped a few blocks from the warehouse, setting up a perimeter. "They are acting strangely." Her mentor said. "They may have had some warning we were coming."

Weiss quickly looked up and down the street, seeing only the flashing lights of the police force on either end. "It seems that we're surrounded." She told her teacher.

"No matter." She replied. "We have done our job." It was now that Weiss' world was shattered and reformed in a second.

"Weiss!" Came an all too familiar voice.


	4. Weiss

Ruby trudged up the stairs to her dorm room. It had been an incredibly long day. Their class had just taken their final exam, allowing them to move on to more advanced aspects of their training. Usually, the final exam is taken with all four members of a team, but with Weiss absent, they took theirs with only three. Her team had been offered a replacement, but they all agreed they couldn't turn their backs on Weiss that easily.

It had been a tough year, especially with Weiss gone. Ruby was feeling more alone than ever, but she refused to give up hope that one day she may be able to bring Weiss back. She finally reached her room and practically fell onto her bed.

She quickly fell asleep, dreaming of being able to bring Weiss back to Beacon.

She awoke with a start in the early morning. She had heard a huge blast, and, wondering if it was real, she went over to her window to see what was happening. She pulled back the shades to see a cloud of smoke hanging over what she assumed to be the blast site. She pulled on her clothes, grabbed Crescent Rose, and rushed to open the door.

However, she was beaten to the door by Yang, who threw it open and said, "Ruby! Do you see that?"

Ruby nodded, "We've got to go find out what's happening." She said.

"Agreed." Blake said from behind Yang.

The three rushed down the stairs and practically flew out the door. They rushed to the cliff that Beacon stood on. "There's no time for an airship, we have to go now." Ruby said. The other girls nodded and they began running along the cliffs to skirt around the large lake below Beacon. They reached a suitable point and threw themselves off, sailing towards the city.

They propelled themselves towards the cloud of smoke and were able to land in a field just to the east of the blast site. They hurried into the streets and came upon a police officer getting into his cruiser. Ruby waved him down and asked, "What's going on?"

"We've got reports of two women who just blew up a shipping warehouse and killed the guards. I'm on my way to help apprehend them." He replied.

At this, Ruby's eyes went wide. "Listen, sir, you have to call off whatever action you guys are taking, these people are very skilled."

"And why should I listen to you, missy?" He sneered.

"We're...huntresses." Ruby said.

At this, the officer visibly paled. Not wanting to aggravate this girl in front of him, he said, "Ok, I'll see what I can do."

"That's all I ask." Ruby said, and shot off with Blake and Yang close behind her. They ran about a block before they reached the perimeter, and, not bothering with introductions, shot themselves over the cruisers.

Ruby gasped as she saw the destruction wrought by the blast. Several nearby buildings were badly damaged, and rubble was strewn across the street. They ran to the corner and turned, seeing the two women sizing up the police barricades.

Ruby didn't want to believe it. "Weiss!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

The white haired girl turned to face her. Weiss. Finally, they had found her.

"Ruby!" She replied. "How...what? How are you alive?" She stammered.

"No thanks to you, Weiss!" Ruby shot back.

Yang then said to Ruby, "Focus on winning first, don't be distracted. That woman next to Weiss looks dangerous." Ruby nodded as the first attack came.

The woman in red began throwing a hail storm of fire at the girls, who were hard-pressed to dodge. Yang and Blake managed to get some shots off, but to no effect. They heard the woman yell something at Weiss, who finally began to move. Yang yelled to Ruby, "We'll take the woman! Focus on bringing down Weiss!"

Ruby responded by launching herself to the nearest rooftop. Weiss followed suit, landing on a building across from her. Ruby's building was slightly higher up, so she used her advantage to seize the initiative. She vaulted across to the other building, using her momentum to swing into a vicious strike. Weiss only barely managed to block it and retain a hold of her weapon.

Ruby now swung her scythe with amazing speed, smashing against Weiss' defenses. She had learned from their last encounter not to let Weiss have time to use her Dust. Ruby, almost taking Weiss' arm off, reversed her grip at the last second, smashing Weiss' side with the blunt end of her scythe. Weiss went skidding across the rooftop and slammed into a roof access door.

Weiss quickly regained her footing, just as Ruby shot herself towards her. Once again, Ruby pressed the attack, allowing Weiss no time to breathe. However, Weiss was able to duck under a swing and slide away, air stepping upward. Ruby knew she needed to close the gap, so she fired herself off the ground.

Just like before, Weiss reversed her movement and came flying down at Ruby, who locked their blades together. Ruby then twisted hard, sending Weiss flying towards the ground. Weiss broke her fall using a Dust barrier, but still went sliding across the rooftop. She got up to see Ruby still descending. She sent a wave of ice towards the spot Ruby would land. Ruby reacted by firing to the side, however this made her land awkwardly and fall to the ground.

Weiss, seeing the tide of battle turn, sent fire flying towards her downed opponent. Ruby was forced to fire while she was still prone, sending her sliding across the rooftop towards Weiss. She dug her heels in and popped up to a standing position, only to be met by more fire. She dodged around it and kept closing the distance, using her scythe to maintain her balance as she twisted around balls of fire.

Ruby swung Crescent Rose hard at Weiss, who was able to bring up her own weapon to block it. They struggled against each other, trying to force the other to lower their weapon. "Stop this!" Ruby yelled at the other girl.

Weiss gave a mighty push, throwing Ruby's weapon away from her. "Give it up Ruby! I'm not going back! Give up your foolish dream and let me go!"

"Not if letting you go means losing you to darkness!" Ruby replied, and readied herself to renew the fight.

It was then that their whole world exploded.


	5. Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

"We'll take the woman! Focus on bringing down Weiss!"

Yang dodged around another ball of fire as Ruby shot off onto the rooftop. The blonde then launched herself into the air as well, glancing at Blake to make sure she was following suit. They needed to close the gap, and fast. Yang fired a shot at their adversary, who met it with a blast of fire. Using the resulting smoke to her advantage, Yang shot towards the woman in red.

The woman saw Yang fly through the smoke, arm cocked back and ready to strike. She quickly made a Dust shield in front of her, which Yang destroyed with one blow. She then conjured up a wicked looking sword using some special Dust from her anklets. She swung the sword at Yang, who caught the blow on her gauntlet.

Yang glared angrily at her opponent. This was the woman who had taken Weiss away from them and almost killed her sister. She would not lose this fight. Yang threw another punch at the woman as she flipped away. Seeing Blake coming in from her side, she raised her sword to meet the girl head on. Blake met the blade with her own, opening up the woman's flank to Yang.

Yang quickly spotted the opening and leapt forward to smash into her. She miraculously managed to dodge partly out of the way, but Yang's blow still clipped her enough to send her spinning. Yang was about to follow up when a massive force barrelled into her, sending her sprawling to the ground. She saw Blake only barely dodge the attack from the Dust wielder, and Yang was amazed at the speed at which their opponent attacked.

It was that moment when Yang spotted the hair.

Three strands of her beautiful golden hair lay on the ground in front of her. Blake, looking over to see if her teammate was alright, quickly saw the danger and disengaged from the fight. She saw the air around Yang shimmer and quickly explode into flame. _Here we go_. Thought Blake as Yang charged the woman at breakneck speed. She caught a quick glimpse of the enraged girl's eyes burning red.

Yang rained punch after punch down on her enemy, who managed to deflect or dodge almost every attack. Almost. Yang threw a wicked punch to her gut, which connected and sent the woman flying backwards. She collided hard with a building across the street from the warehouse. She got up, impossibly unhurt, and began her Dust attacks with increased vigour.

She sent a wave of pure energy at Yang, who blasted through it by sheer force of will. She then began firing explosive shards of Dust at Yang, who was able to dodge them almost easily. The warehouse behind her, however, was not so lucky. Multiple large holes appeared in the metal exterior of the warehouse.

Yang fired behind her, launching herself at the woman. Her enemy launched one more shard, this one massive, at Yang, who spun quickly out of the way. Yang was preparing to smash the woman's face when she heard a deafening roar and was slammed into from behind. The force was enough to send her flying at the building, which was as unforgiving as ever. Yang did manage to use her aura to negate some of the damage, but she was still dazed from the blast.

For a moment, there was nothing but dust clouding the air. Yang peeled herself away from the building and fell in a heap onto the ground. She heard frantic footsteps and looked up to see Blake running towards her. "Yang!" Her partner called.

"I'm here! Don't worry about me! Find Ruby!" She managed to say before set upon by a bout of coughing. She saw the black haired girl leap onto the rooftops. _Hopefully now I can finish that witch off_. Yang thought as she fought her way to her feet. _She must've set off some Dust in the warehouse when she tried to attack me_. Yang realized.

Holding her side, which was bruised from the explosion, she limped along the shadow of the building before hearing a loud crack from within. Realizing her mistake, she ignored the pain and shot off into the street, away from the structurally compromised building. She turned around in time to see the entire building collapse. _Maybe that did the trick_. She thought grimly.

Blake landed on the rooftop, searching the area for Ruby and Weiss. She spotted a small figure sprawled out on the rooftop next to hers, clearly unconscious. She jumped over and was relieved to find Ruby, knocked out, but otherwise unhurt. It was then she heard the crack.

She gathered up the smaller girl in her arms and leapt away, just as the building came down from under her feet. She quickly returned to ground level and found Yang. "She's fine. The blast wave knocked her out, but otherwise she is unhurt." She told her teammate.

"Any sign of Weiss?" Yang asked.

Blake shook her head. "I don't think our team is in any condition to face her right now. Hopefully we took care of at least one problem with that woman." It was now that Blake felt the pain. She reached at her left shoulder and felt a sharp piece of metal lodged there. She grunted as the contact jarred the shrapnel, sending a shooting pain down her arm. "We should retreat for now. I have a feeling Weiss is still alive."

Yang, noting the condition of their team, had no choice but to agree. She put Ruby on herself, piggy-back style, and they began walking towards the police perimeter.

Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice, "You are in a lot of trouble ladies!" Glynda Goodwitch yelled as she marched up the street towards them. She seemed to have the look of a murderer in her eyes. "Do you know how dangerous a stunt you just pulled?! I have half a mind to send you three home right now!" She then saw the state the three of them were in. The professor half-scowled, half-sighed and said, "Come on. Let's get you to the infirmary. But don't you dare think that you're off the hook."

Blake grimaced and noted, "Out of the frying pan, into the fire." She thought she saw the older woman's lips twitch just a little.


	6. Promises

Weiss staggered out of the rubble, holding her right arm as it bled freely. She had managed to dig herself out of the destroyed building, but now she had to find a way to escape. She leaned against a wall and thought of her options. She could make a run for it past the police barricade, but they might be able to run her down. She could fight it out, but in her weakened state that option was less than ideal. She concealed Myrtenaster as best she could as she approached the barricade from an alleyway.

"Stop!" A voice resonated down the narrow passage. "Who is that?"

"Help me! Please!" She said in a pleading voice. "I'm bleeding!" She pretended to stumble forward and fall to the ground.

She heard footsteps fast approaching. "Are you alright?" The voice asked.

She faked a sob and nodded, slowly getting up. "I can walk." She proceeded to be lead out of the alleyway by two police officers, right past the police perimeter.

"Let's get you to the hospital." One of the officers said just before Weiss' blade flashed up and ended his life. She quickly dispatched the second officer and walked quickly away, towards the outskirts of Vale. She gave no thought to wiping the blood off her weapon in her haste.

She managed to reach the edge of the city without being recognized, and quickly began walking down the main road out of the city. There were no vehicles anywhere near the blast site, so she used this to her advantage.

After about a mile, forest began to envelop the sides of the road. Weiss left the highway behind and ducked into the woods, not knowing that a small bit of her dress caught and ripped on a branch.. She walked about another mile before finally stopping to address her wounds. She sat down in a clearing and focused. She brought her aura forth and began stitching up the damage done to her arm. After a short time, there wasn't even a scar.

She managed to stand, dizzy from exhaustion. Using her aura took its toll. One thing she could not afford right now was rest. She forced herself to keep going, eager to place as much distance from the city as possible.

She was determined to continue on. She would not fail in her quest for revenge. All her life she had been preparing for the day when her vengeance would finally be realized. She would not fail in her mission. She had made a promise.

Weiss soon came upon another clearing and, having walked for the better part of the day, began bedding down for the night. She sat down and leaned against a tree, doing her best to make herself comfortable, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

Ruby sat in the infirmary as they patched up her teammates. Miraculously, she had escaped the explosion without injury, unlike her comrades. Blake had to get shrapnel removed from her shoulder and put her arm in a sling. Yang ended up with a broken rib and a sprained ankle. They all had to face the wrath of the headmaster.

Professor Ozpin walked through the door, "Well, well, what have we here?" He said. "It seems that you three had a run-in with an old friend, correct?"

Ruby shot a look at him and nodded. "We were just doing our job as future huntresses." She replied.

"Mmm, yes, and nearly killing yourselves in the process." Ozpin remarked. Ruby went to say something, but he held up his hand, taking a seat next to her. "You should've told me before you left, Ruby."

Ruby suddenly had an immense interest in her thumbs.

"I know Weiss leaving has been hard on you, on all of you, but that does not mean that you three have a right to go running off without my permission to try and save the world. I will let this slide once, and only once. Understand?"

The girls all nodded.

"Good. Now, it seems that you are still short one team member, and two of you are not going to do any fighting for a while." He gave Ruby a hard look. "Against my better judgement, Ruby, you can go and try to find her. She cannot have gotten far and she will have nowhere to go. I believe that you truly are the only one that can get her back here safe and sound, Ms. Rose." The look on Ruby's face made Ozpin laugh out loud.

"I...Thank you!" She replied.

"This is still your mission, and you must make haste. The more time we sit here talking is more time for her to disappear."

"Wait a second!" Yang said from her bed. "She needs some sort of support! You can't just send her to face Weiss alone!" She went to sit up, but quickly gave up because of the pain.

Ruby then stood and walked over to her older sister, "Yang, you have to believe in me. I know I can do this."

"I know you can! I just can't stand sitting here while you put your life in danger! Don't forget what happened last time." Yang replied.

Ruby nodded, "I've never forgotten. But I've also gotten stronger since then, much stronger. If we had fought for two more minute I would've won this time, I know it. And besides, this isn't about fighting." She continued, "Weiss is blinded by revenge. For what or who I don't know, but what I do know is that she is still a good person deep down."

Ruby's confidence was enough to erode Yang's defenses. "Well...I..."

"Yang," Ruby looked deep into her sister's eyes, "I won't fail. I made a promise."


	7. Revelations

Ruby awoke to the sound of her early morning alarm going off. She quickly dressed and grabbed Crescent Rose from its place of rest. She rushed down the stairs two at a time, eager to be on her way. She made her way to the landing platforms and caught the first ship to the city.

She quickly made her way to the site of the battle the day before, finding it roped off and with crews beginning to clean up. She saw some men carrying away two bodies. She caught up with them and asked, "What happened to these two?"

A crew member, having been warned to help this girl however possible, answered, "They were found outside the police perimeter. It looks like they were run through with a sword."

"Show me where." Ruby said curtly.

The man pointed over to where another man was standing. "Right over by him. I think he's a policeman or detective or something."

Ruby thanked the man and walked over to the police officer. It seems this man also heard about the girl coming down from Beacon. As soon as Ruby reached him, he said, "There seems to be a blood trail heading towards the main highway out of the city. You need anything, miss?"

Ruby shook her head and thanked the man. She was shocked at how much help she was getting just because Ozpin gave the police a heads up. She decided to go to the highway. As she arrived, she noticed sporadic drops of blood down the road in front of her.

She followed these drops for about a mile before they stopped. Ruby looked around. She was basically in the middle of nowhere. There was highway in front of her, behind her, and woods on either side. She considered that Weiss may have air stepped away, but couldn't think of a good reason why she would. As she looked to her right, something in the woods caught her eye. She hopped over the rail and made her way to the treeline.

She came upon a small scrap of a white dress that seemed to have been caught on a branch. She also noticed that the branches of the smaller trees in one direction were all bent and snapped. She decided to follow the small path that had been made.

She walked for about an hour, thinking about how she would convince Weiss to return. She still did not know why she left, and resolved first to figure that out. Was it because of her family? Did she feel too pressured by their success? No, that couldn't be it. She had talked about revenge. For what though?

Ruby shook her head, deciding she was getting nowhere along that train of thought. She continued walking until the sun was high in the sky, finally coming to a small clearing. She cast her gaze around the area and happened to notice a spot that was packed down. _This is where she must've slept last night_. Ruby thought.

She looked around some more and got no closer to find the direction that Weiss may have gone. Growing frustrated, she kicked some leaves on the ground. A small sparkle caught her eye. Something was beneath those leaves. She took to her knees and grabbed it, finding a small pendant there. As she stood back up, she thought to herself, _Weiss would never leave this behind._

Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard the leaves rustling behind her. Ruby jumped almost into a tree out of fright. She backed up and got to the opposite side of the clearing before a very disgruntled Weiss came out from the woods.

Weiss' head shot up to meet Ruby's eyes, "Ruby." She said, her voice void of emotion.

"Weiss." Ruby replied. The two girls stood for a moment, seeing what action the other would take. Ruby decided to try to talk, "Why did you do it, Weiss? Why'd you leave?"

"Hmph," The older girl said. "You could never understand."

"Weiss," Ruby continued, seeing that Weiss clearly wasn't in the position to fight right now, "Let me understand. Tell me why and I can help you."

"You think I need your help?" Weiss countered, "I left that horrid school for the strength to face my past. That is something I must do alone."

"Tell me your story Weiss. I don't want to fight." Ruby said.

"If it means maybe getting you off my back, fine." Weiss took a seat in the spot she had slept the night before. "You may want to sit, this will take a while."

Ruby nodded, still clutching Weiss' necklace. She found a suitable spot up against a tree and sat down, resting her folded up scythe next to her, propped against the tree.

Weiss sighed, put Myrtenaster down next to her, and began, "Back when I was a tiny child, only eight, I think, is when this happened. Also, something you need to understand beforehand, I'm... adopted."

Ruby was quite honestly shocked at this news, but was careful not to show it as Weiss carried on with her story.

"Before I was adopted, I lived in a small village in the north of Vale. So, it was a cold winter day, and our preparatory school had just gotten out for winter break. I was on my way home. I returned to the house to find my parents suiting up in armour, with swords and muskets on their backs. Being eight, I was very confused. They told me they had to go help the village. They sent me to stay with our neighbor, an older woman who was watching the children that day. My parents never...never came home."

At this point, Ruby saw a single tear fall from Weiss' cheek.

"I found out when I got older that they had been defending the village from bandits. What I didn't know, that is, until recently, is that those bandits were lead by none other than Professor Ozpin." A scowl crossed Weiss' face, "That rat bastard was sent by the King himself to wipe out our village."

Ruby's eyes got wide. Surely their headmaster was not that cruel. Could she be sure? She had no idea where to go from here.

"Anyway, the old woman I was staying with sent out ads for adoption, and the Schnee family took me in as their own. They tried to cut me off from my old life, even got rid of any record of my true last name."

"Weiss…" Ruby said. "I understand." She took a deep breath and said, "My mother was killed when I was a child too. I know what you have been through."

It was then that the tears started. Weiss couldn't keep herself together any longer. The sobs were deep and wracked her body. There was nothing she could do to keep them back. Years of repressed anger, regret, and sorrow came flooding out of her in that one moment.

Ruby slowly got up and made her way over to Weiss, taking a seat next to her. Tentatively, she put her arm around the sobbing girl. Then, slowly, Ruby pulled her into a comforting embrace. Weiss did nothing to resist, sobbing uncontrollably.

For a while, they sat there just like that. Weiss' sobs eventually subsided. "Ruby," She said, pulling herself away from Ruby's arms, "Thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me."

Ruby had made up her mind. "Let's go have a chat with Professor Ozpin and see if he can explain."

"Ruby," Weiss retorted. "I can't go back there."

"Weiss," Ruby said, looking deep into Weiss' eyes, "You have to face this. You can't just run from this forever. And violence will just make things worse."

Weiss looked at her for a short moment, then replied, "...Fine." And got up from the forest floor.


	8. Reunion

Ruby looked across the airship at Weiss. The older girl was standing at the window, looking out at the city. She could not help but wonder how this was possibly going to be resolved without fighting. Weiss believed Ozpin had killed her parents, so it would only make sense that she would never forgive him.

She sighed and looked out at the city as well. She couldn't forget that, only the day before, Weiss had been attacking the same city. She strained her neck to try and get a glimpse of the blast sight but it was at one of the ship's blind spots.

Finally, the ship arrived at Beacon. As the door opened, Ruby and Weiss walked together to get off. They stepped onto the empty landing pad. "You ready?" Ruby said to Weiss. She nodded and they began walking towards the main building.

As they reached the main walkway, people began to notice them. They heard multiple gasps of surprise and quite a lot of mumbling about their presence there. They kept their heads held high and looked straight ahead as people began to gather in the courtyard.

As they entered the main building, they saw Glenda coming towards them. She pretended not to notice them and moved to the front entrance. They heard her voice coming from behind them, "This doesn't concern you." She told the crowd, "Please go back to your dorm rooms." As she closed the doors behind her.

The two girls made their way to Ozpin's office, which they promptly entered, not needing to knock or announce themselves. Ozpin was sitting there, sipping on his coffee. Glenda came up behind the pair and closed the door, staying outside the room. Ruby guessed she was guarding the door in case anyone tried to hear what was about to happen.

"So," Ozpin began, "Have you decided to come back to us?"

"We'll see." Weiss replied.

A few awkward moments passed before Ruby spoke up, "Professor, can you explain what you did regarding Weiss' village nine years ago?"

Ozpin looked at her, then back to Weiss, "So you told her?"

Weiss nodded. "Why would I keep what you did a secret?" She snapped back.

Ozpin shrugged, "Ok." He took another sip of his coffee and began. "Back when I was a hunter, I had been approached by the King to take on a serious assignment. There was a village in the north that had presumably been running an illegal Dust smuggling ring, as well as experimenting in using the Grimm as weapons. They were trying to train the beasts for their own purposes, and my team had been chosen to shut down the operation."

Weiss then interrupted, "So you killed them?!"

Ozpin's face was one of confusion, "We didn't kill anyone that day, Weiss. We arrested the leaders and were forced to fight some that came to try to free them. Those people then escaped, but we sent in the local police to occupy the town and restore the King's rule." He looked deep into Weiss' eyes, "I promise you, I did not kill your parents."

It was Weiss' turn to be confused. "How...Then where are they?! If they weren't the leaders and they didn't come back to get me, where did they go? Why did they leave me?"

Ozpin replied, "That, I do not know. But I do know that we did not kill anyone that day, nor did the police that were sent in."

"How can I trust what you say?" Weiss shot back, "For all I know, you could be lying to save your own skin!"

"Weiss," Ozpin said, "I do not lie. I have not lied in my entire life, and I would not start now."

Weiss, searching for something to be angry at but finding only pure honesty in Ozpin's eyes, broke down, "W-Why did they leave me?" She fell to her knees, putting her face in her hands. She sobbed until all her tears were gone, not even noticing Ruby putting her arm around her shoulder.

She managed to get a hold of herself, "Ok." She said, "I...I believe you." She managed to say in between hiccups. "But I warn you, I-If I ever find out t-that you're lying…." She left the statement unfinished.

Ozpin nodded, understanding what the girl must be going through. "Now," He said, "Will you return to our school?"

Weiss seemed to think about it for a moment, and then looked Ozpin in the eye, "As long as you promise me this. If I ever...EVER hear any whisper about my parents, you will let me go and try to find them."

Ozpin nodded slowly, "Of course." He then looked past the girls to the door, "Glenda! Make sure Weiss here is treated well upon her re-integration to the school."

The door swung open and in burst Yang and Blake, still battered by their battle with the woman in the red dress. They rushed to the two girls and wrapped their arms around them, bringing their group into a crushing hug. "Oh Weiss!" Yang exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're ok!"

Blake said, "I knew you'd come back!" Showing more emotion than she had in her entire time at Beacon.

Yang shouted, "I TOLD you we wouldn't be split up so easily!"

At this point, all the girls had tears in their eyes, but these were tears of happiness and affection.

Weiss croaked, "Yang…"

"Yeah?"

"You're crushing me." Weiss was able to say.

Yang pulled away and looked at Weiss, "That's what you get for running off like that!" Weiss looked down in shame. "Hey," Yang quickly said, "None of that matters now. All that does matter is that you're back safe and sound."

Blake pulled away as well, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

Ozpin then spoke up, "I suggest you girls all go get some rest, you've had a long few days."

He could not be more right. All four of them were about to fall over from exhaustion. Blake and Yang didn't sleep at all that night from worry about Ruby. They had felt so powerless just sitting in their hospital beds.

They made their way up to their rooms, Yang and Blake hugging the other girls good night. As Ruby and Weiss approached their room, they noticed an envelope slipped halfway under their door. Ruby stooped down to pick it up, then handed it to Weiss. There, in neat handwriting, was a single word, "_Weiss_".

Weiss' hand trembled as she opened the envelope. The letter inside read,

_Dear Weiss,_

_We are sorry to have to write you this letter, but we can't be there ourselves. We have been watching you grow up from afar, and we wanted to let you know how proud we are of you and what you've done up to this point. Everyone goes through hard times in their lives, but what defines a person is how they deal with those times. If you are reading this, it means that you have made the right choice, and are on the path to goodness. We know this may sound shallow coming from us, but we hope that you will continue to make the right choices and stay on that path. We fully support your endeavor to become a huntress, and will be keeping an eye on you every now and then. It is best that we do not meet for now, however, as we are still wanted for crimes against Vale, and rightly so. We have not always made the right choices, Weiss, but you have the chance to be the right kind of person. Just know that we will always support you, and always love you know matter what. _

_Love,_

_Mom and Dad_

[*****************]

**Thank you all for sticking with this to the end. Honestly, when I started this story, I had no idea where we would end up, but I'm glad you all stayed along for the ride with me. I don't think we have seen the end of this plot-line though, and I definitely foresee a sequel in the near-future. You guys and gals don't know how awesome it is to see how many people have enjoyed this story, and I humbly thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. Stay tuned for the next adventure! Until then... ;)**


End file.
